The Taming of the Tongue # 2

The Taming of the Tongue # 2

But then he goes on in verse 4, "And my message and my preaching were not persuasive words of wisdom..." I doubt Paul was a fascinating preacher, juggling with words that sparkled. His job was to glorify Jesus. If we preach and people remember us, we've missed it. He says that his preaching was not with persuasive words of wisdom, "but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." He didn't spend hours like some preachers, selecting the most fascinating and flashy words. Maybe we might say "fleshy" words. His concern was to project Jesus Christ only and Him crucified. There was nothing flippant or fleshly about what he said, and certainly nothing foolish.

Paul warns us, "In reference to your former manner of life, lay aside the old self...be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth...Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." (Ephesians 4:22-31).

Paul also exhorts us, "There must be no filthiness and silly talk, or course jesting, which are not fitting..." (Ephesians 5:4). I've heard preachers eating dinner together and into borderline jokes, and then someone pushes it further until it's totally disgusting. I like humor, but I don't like stupidity, filthiness, or course jesting. Oh how many silly, stupid things are said. Dr. Tozer used to say to me, "Len, be careful. Remember never, never, speak lightly of the devil. Don't tell any jokes about hell." The devil is not almighty, but we must not forget that he is mighty. All too often Christians speak too lightly of the kingdom of darkness, as if to treat the whole thing as unimportant. (Jude 9).

Muzzle Your Mouth

David says, "I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle." (Psalm 39:1). We usually think of other parts of our body as being agencies of sin, but not our tongue. David says "I will guard my mouth."

Colossians 4:6 says, "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt. "Not pepper! Sometimes anger gets in our speech and spoils everything that we've said. Psalm 12:3 says, "May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things." These surely are stern warnings to believers.

Psalm 15 asks, "Lord who may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill?" He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart." So there you have it: walking and talking. Walking uprightly, speaking the truth in your heart. And in verse 3, "He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend." I believe we sabotage a lot of our prayers because we're doing what James says - one minute we're blessing God, and then afterwards we're cursing men. Not blaspheming or using vile language, but criticizing them. One minute our tongues are speaking about holy things, and the next, unholy things. You see, the tongue is an index of the heart. Do you wonder that I shudder when I look at a large congregation singing, "Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise..."? Goodness me, if they did have 1,000 tongues, there would be 999 times more gossip and criticism and slander than there is now! Earth would be hell and the Church would be as bad. Oh, no! If we can't control the one we have, how could be manage 999 more? How often do we sing our great Redeemer's praise? For five minutes in two Sunday morning hymns? And the rest of the week it's careless and silly talk. Talk of anything but the deep things of God. 

Stick Out Your Tongue

In the springtime my mother used to say, "Stick out your tongue and let me see what it's like." And then she had some horrible concoction that we had to take. I wonder, if we have to put out our tongues at the end of each day if they would be unclean with gossip, slander, criticism, or bitterness? Paul says, "sound in speech which is beyond reproach". Is our speech always with grace, seasoned with salt?

I helped at a funeral once where there were several teenage children. They sobbed and groaned and carried on as I'd never seen anyone do. I said to my senior pastor, "Oh, how they loved their mother!" He said, "No, they're crying in remorse. They were the most disobedient, backbiting, sarcastic children ever. They always abused their mother with their words. They just cut her to pieces with their tongues." Many of us suddenly feel this same unbearable guilt when someone dies and we can't take back the words we've spoken or heal the wounds we've made.

This is the day when people are screaming about ecology. What about pure hearts? It's a pity we don't raise our voice in the Church and call everyone to recite Psalm 51 and cry with David, "Create in me a clean heart!" Or, as Wesley put it,
O for a heart to praise my God.
A heart from sin set free.
A heart that always feels the blood,
So freely shed for me.
A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
My Great Redeemer's throne,
Where only Christ is heard to speak,
Where Jesus reigns alone.
If Christ were speaking internally all the time, we wouldn't come out with the rubbish that we utter so much.

When you get to my age, you look back and it's an awesome thing. I think about the millions of words I must have said in sixty years of preaching. Speaking at least 120 words a minute, I can speak 1,200 words in ten minutes. In 60 minutes I've spoken 7,200 words and I've done this twice a day sometimes and done it for years. Then there's all the words I've written.

What a day when all the great orators stand before the Lord. Oh, that we might find men today whose hearts are burning with love and devotion, and because their hearts are burning, their speech will burn with love, with adoration, and with hatred for sin. My prayer is, "Lord, teach me to hold my tongue. Teach me to do as the psalmist says, set a watch at the door of my lips that my speech may always be seasoned with grace. My tongue never a sword. My speech always edifying, uplifting, and that which glorifies God." Amen

~Leonard Ravenhill~

(The End)